Warning signal for crowning machines



Feb. 21, 1956 J. E. ANGLO WARNING SIGNAL FOR CROWNING MACHINES FiledDec. 28, 1946 Patented Feb. 21 1950 WARNING SIGNAL- FOR (BROWNINGMACHINES .zlamesfE. Anglo, -StzPaul, Minn, assignortofloca Cola BottlingCompany "of Minnesota, Incorporated, 'Mi-nn'eapolis, Mimn, a corporationof Minnesota ApplicatiomDecemhcr 28, 1946,.Serial1Nn. 71931196 .9"Claims. (Cl. 116-61.).

3.1- 'lihis; invention: relates: towarning or signal. apparatusxadaptedto be associated with automatic or semi-automatic:machinery wherein aline of articles are 'moved in some; phase of the-opera.-

tioninabutment-andiadapted to warn an-attendi 1 ant or operator. whenthere is a :break in the 111161015 moving; articles.

While. applicable to a number of automatic or semi-automatic machines:in a production. or supply iline,;-my:invention hasz particula-radaptability -.to commercial -.cr,owning.zand bottling systems. tor.carbonated or other beverages.

It is antobject of myinvention toyprovidea simple, inexpensive butnevertheless highly eificient'signal. apparatus adapted to :be. readilyattached or to =bewconstructed1 as standard equipment in machines suchvas bottling and crowning machines'for beverages and having the. func'tionof immediatelygiying a warning signal when a breakoccurs in. amoving line-of articles such as crowns. through temporary lack of supplyor improper feeding :of thenarticles in their line of travel.

More specifically,, it:-is anaobiect toprovide in warning: apparatusrofthe class; described.- azsource ofair supply under pressure with: means*for.

. directing the :same againstthe abutting articles in line of travel andhaving-combined therewith and at the other side of said lineofarticles-,. a

signal deviceresponsive to; saiddischarge of air only when abreak occursin said. line-oi abutting articles.

. :In bottling apparatus which usually includes dispensing; or bottle:filling mechanism with automatic crowning mechanism, the crowns or capsmovexcontinuously and at highSPeed inabutting,

side-.by-side relationship through. a chute. andare fed therebyprogressively and at highspeed to" the bottle crowning mechanism.whichapplies the crown successively'and clinches. the same upon 1 upona. break in. theline: oicrownsl being, fed. to: the crowning mechanismthroughthe chute; a;

wazrmn-g signal. :isrgiven enabling. 'the-zatterrdarit or: operator toimmediately :start the: line not crowns improper abutting relation.

Thesev and other. zobjectszands advantageszadf my inventionwillhemorerzapparent from th'e fioil'ow in g; description :mad'ezi-n.rconnectiom with therace companying drawings, 'iWhBIBiIlJ. :li-ke;.;refierence characters refer. :to rparts: throughout the several; viewswhich:

i-Fig. L .is: a :irontv perspective: view showing: atypicalbottlewrowning. machinewithrmy apparatus attached thereto;

FigznZziS BiSidBYDEBSPBHtiVB uierwoitltheasamia Fig. 3.21sa;side;elevation.yiew showingathee'crowm chute with the. side:facethereof cut away .and: also showing; "the signal. device of: the:iwarnmgz apparatus in detail; and Fig; 4 is a: toprsection viewtakensubstamtfally on-.-the-line; 4-4; of: .Fig. B sh-owing; ithe signalzzdeviceof the warning apparatus. .Machinesarein widespread use todayperforma productive: operation. on;a-.:multiplicity of. .articles:moving im a supply line substantialhr abutting one another. *exam-ple:of such. a machine: is a. bottleecrowningmachin-e, such as theone-illustrated whichtis usedin. soft drink bottling; plants,breweries-and the. -.1il;ei These crowning. machines have .a: hopper fiwhichi is adapted to hold .asupp'ly of crowns-21;. Crown selector.mechanism. including av rotary vane.- equipped -.disc 6a. is. associatedwith hopper iii to individually select the-crowns and-.icarry them tothe outside. of the hopper and drop thesame in vertical position. forneeding. rapidly rand-sue: cessively mhe crowns to the. uppertend-ofalsupply chute-8.1. Said crown .chute..8,.has one endLfiXed; to: the:lower, diminished-portionro-f. the hopper 6 and chute 8 is disposed-.dcwnwardly therefrom and curvedeinwardly at the bottom portion tosuccessively .feedthe. crowns 7 onto ,a crown. plat form. 9disposed'fbeneath a crowningfhe'ad"|0.

' The machine shown has twelve crowning mechanisms, each including a.crown platform Band a crowning head 1.0", as s'hownnn' Fig; 1*; Thesecrowning mechanismsrevolve so-that said =chute 8 feeds crowns '1 ontosuccessivecrown p'laitfbrn'a's 9. The-outward face'of the chutefl 'isslotted so that the: crownsv arevpartiall y wi'sible as they passdownward. 'hhexlower cnrvenizpon tion" of saidichuteifl alsoihaszitsimiter'rfacezsihttedz.

A source of filtered-air"underwpressurevis vided..-andv supply line. H:has onewend connected with said source,- and the. other-endconnectedttp. a master valve l2.v Ahtnbe l .3-.runs frcmisaidtvalwe upto theloottonmof.said;hopper.v SignaLtubeJA.

is connected in said line [3 and runs up to the top of the slot in thecurved portion of said chute 8 where it terminates in nozzle I5. Signalvalve I6 is provided to control the flow of air in signal tube [4. Anelongated transverse slot I1 is cut in the ream-inward faceof said chute8 directly opposed to nozzle IS. A signal device, such as a whistle I8is mounted with an air-receiving element such as its mouthpiece abuttingthe portion of the rear inward wall of said chute 8 surrounding theelongated slot [1.

Supply line I l conducts the compressed air up to valve l2, and whensaidfvalve' is open, the air flows into tube l3. Said tube I3 directsthe air against the crowns 1 at the bottom of hopper B, to preventclogging of the crowns I as they enter chute 8. The crowns lflowdownwardly in substantial abutment, one against the other. Withsignal valve l6 open, the air passes into signal tube l4 and flows outthrough nozzle 15 and is thereby directed against the line of crownswhich are interposed between said nozzle l5 and the mouth of whistle IBmounted around slot ll. It will be seen. that as long as there isaconstant flow of crowns l downward in chute 8, the compressed air stream.from nozzle will not im- 'pinge upon the mouth of whistle 18, but assoon as this stream is interrupted indicating a clogging of the crownsinthe hopper or lack of supply thereof, the air will enter the mouth ofsaid whistle and saidwhistlewill give an alarm. An attendant may thenquickly unclog the crown selector mechanism or see that the hopper issupplied with crowns as the case may be, or if an adjustment requiringsome time is necessary, the machine may be shut off until the adjustmentmay be made.

With further reference to the air discharge nozzle l5 it will be notedthat this nozzle is directed diagonally downwardly to assist rather thanimpede the normal progression of crowns or other articles down thefeeding chute. Thus, an additional and important function is obtainedthrough my apparatus in aiding and accelerating the force of gravity inthe progressive feedingof the articles in abutting relationship. 5 Theair supply for my discharge nozzle l5 as well as the crown dislodgingjet [3a at the upper end of tube l3 may be derived from any suitablesource. Several conventional types of bottling machines have a source ofair supply connected therewith which is-utilized as illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, at present to assist and accelerate theprogressive discharge of crowns from the lower curved end So of thefeeding chute. To this end, a tangential connection by a fitting withthe lower end of chute 8a is made, the discharged air being projectedagainst the edges of the respective crowns as they approach the end ofthe chute and positively forcing said crownsinto the socket of thecrowning mecha- From the foregoing description, it will be seen that Ihave provided a simple,'highly efficient and economical signallingapparatus adapted to be readily installed in conventional automatic andsemi automatic machinery such as crowners and bottlers andcapable ofutilization in ;other machinery wherea line of articles progressivelymove in substantialabutment;

It will of course, be understood that various changes may be m'ade inthe form,details, ar-- rangementand proportions of the parts withoutdeparting from the scope of my invention.

What I claim is:

1. A signal apparatus to give a warning when a break occurs in a line ofarticles moving in a machine in substantial abutment, comprising anozzle-forming-element adapted to be connected with a source of airsupply under pressure, means for directing said nozzle-forming elementagainst one side of the articles in travel and a signal deto saidnozzle-forming element.

' 3. Signal apparatus adapted to give a warning when a break occurs in aline of articles moving in a machine in substantial'abutment; anozzleforming element adapted to be connected with a source of airsupply under pressure, means for directing said nozzle-forming elementat an acute angle converging with the direction-of travel of saidarticles and against one side of the line of articles and a signaldevice having an air-receiving signal element mounted at the oppositeside of said line of articles inopposed relation to said nozzle-formingelement, said signal device being responsiveto the discharge of air togive a warning signal when no articles are interposed between saidnozzle-forming element and said signal element. I I

4. A signal apparatus for bottle crowning machines adapted to give awarning when a break occurs in the moving line of abutted crowns beingprogressively fed, to the crowning mechanism, comprising anozzle-forming element adapted to be connected with a source of airpressure, means for directing said nozzle-forming element againstone'side of the line of crowns and an air-responsive signalling devicehaving an air receiving element disposed at the opposite side of saidmoving line of crowns in opposition to said nozzle-forming elementwherebyja' warning signal will begiven whenever the'space' between saidnozzle element and said receiving element is unobstructed.

5. The structure set forth in claim4 wherein said nozzle-forming elementdirecting "means maintains said nozzle element at an angle convergingwith the line of travel of said crowns to assist rather than restrictthe travel of said crowns.

6. In combination with a machine adapted to perform a productiveoperation on a multiplicity of articles in travel, said articlesmovingin a line in substantial abutment, a warning apparatus comprisinga source of fluid supplied underpressure, a nozzle'con'nected with'saidsourceand directed against one side of' the abutting articles in travel,a signal device mounted at the opposite side of the line of articles andopposed to said nozzle and-responsive to the discharge of fluidtherefrom to give a warning signal "when there are no articlesinterposed between said nozzle and said signal device. I

7. A warning apparatus "adapted to give an alarm or a break in alineofarticles moving in abutment, comprising "a" source of air "supplyunder pressure, an air l'in e' connected with said air supply source, anozzle connected with said source and directed against the abuttingarticles 76 in travel, a sounding-device disposed behind said 1 airsupply source in opposed relation to said nozzle and responsive foroperation to the discharge of air from said nozzle when the spacebetween said nozzle and said sounding device is unobstructed.

8. In combination with a bottle crowning machine and a mechanism thatdischarges the crowns into a chute leading to a pressure-applyingelement, a warning apparatus comprising a source of air supplied underpressure, a jet connected to said air source, said jet directing a flowof air against a line of crowns moving in substantial abutment in saidchute, a signal device mounted in spaced relation opposing said jet,said abutting crowns being interposed between said jet and said signaldevice, said signal being responsive for operation to the discharge ofair from said jet when the space between said jet and said signal deviceis unobstructed.

9. In combination with a bottling crowning machine having a crowndelivery chute with a slot or opening in the outer face thereof toexpose one side of a line of crowns in travel, a sounding device mountedin fixed relation on the inner side of said chute and having an entranceextending through the opposite side of said chute, a source of airsupplied under pressure, a jet connected to said air source and directedagainst a line of crowns moving in substantial abutment in said chuteand disposed in directly opposed spaced relation to the entrance of saidsounding device, whereby said crowns are interposed between said jet andsaid device, and whereby an audible signal will be given when a break inthe line of crowns occurs in said chute between said jet and saidentrance of the sounding device. JAMES E. ANGLO.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

